Anesthesiologists are one of the happiest careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, anesthesiologists rate their career happiness 4.0 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 11% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy anesthesiologists are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Neurosurgeon | 4.1 | N/A |
| Dermatologist | 4.1 | $201k |
| Pediatrician | 4.0 | $171k |
| Neurologist | 4.0 | $201k |
| Anesthesiologist | 4.0 | N/A |
| Orthopedic surgeon | 3.8 | N/A |
| Nurse anesthetist | 3.8 | $213k |
| Radiologist | 3.7 | $201k |
| Orthodontist | 3.6 | N/A |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are anesthesiologists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do anesthesiologists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as anesthesiologists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are anesthesiologist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are anesthesiologists making the best use of their abilities?
Are anesthesiologists happy with their salary?
Anesthesiologists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 4.1/5. The majority of anesthesiologists are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked anesthesiologists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
48 anesthesiologists
56% of anesthesiologists rated their compensation 5 stars
21% of anesthesiologists rated their compensation 4 stars
13% of anesthesiologists rated their compensation 3 stars
2% of anesthesiologists rated their compensation 2 stars
8% of anesthesiologists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do anesthesiologists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, anesthesiologists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 4.0/5. Unlike many careers, anesthesiologists have little difficulty finding meaning in their work, and it likely constitutes one of the main reasons people become anesthesiologists.
We asked anesthesiologists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
48 anesthesiologists
56% of anesthesiologists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
17% of anesthesiologists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
8% of anesthesiologists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
13% of anesthesiologists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
6% of anesthesiologists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as anesthesiologists?
Anesthesiologists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 4.3/5. The majority of anesthesiologists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked anesthesiologists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
4.3 out of 5 stars
57 anesthesiologists
60% of anesthesiologists rated their career fit 5 stars
21% of anesthesiologists rated their career fit 4 stars
11% of anesthesiologists rated their career fit 3 stars
4% of anesthesiologists rated their career fit 2 stars
5% of anesthesiologists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is an anesthesiologist’s work environment?
As a whole, anesthesiologists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 4.0/5. A solid majority of anesthesiologists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as an anesthesiologist.
We asked anesthesiologists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
4.0 out of 5 stars
56 anesthesiologists
48% of anesthesiologists rated their work environment 5 stars
21% of anesthesiologists rated their work environment 4 stars
14% of anesthesiologists rated their work environment 3 stars
11% of anesthesiologists rated their work environment 2 stars
5% of anesthesiologists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are anesthesiologists making the best use of their abilities?
Former anesthesiologists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 4.1/5. Most anesthesiologists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as an anesthesiologist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked anesthesiologists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
4.1 out of 5 stars
54 anesthesiologists
54% of anesthesiologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
22% of anesthesiologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
7% of anesthesiologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
11% of anesthesiologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
6% of anesthesiologists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars